FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Through nine holes on Wednesday in the second round of the NCAA Championship, the fifth-ranked Duke women’s golf team remained in the top three in the team standings, but the Blue Devils struggled on the back nine on their way to finishing with a 15-over-par, 302, and dropped from third place to 11th with 36 holes remaining at the 6,377-yard, par 72 Vanderbilt Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Tenn.

The Blue Devils were three-under-par when they made the turn on Wednesday, but Duke registered 18 bogies and two double-bogeys over the final nine on its way to shooting 16-over-par. For the two days, Duke owns a total of 591 with rounds of 289 and 302.

“It wasn’t a great day for us,” said Duke head coach Dan Brooks. “The back side is the harder side so I expected us to possibly be a little bit higher back there but it just wasn’t a great day for us.”

Continuing to lead the championship is Alabama with a five-under-par total of 571. UCLA (582), North Carolina (582), Virginia (582), Arizona State (583), South Carolina (583), Southern California (585), LSU (587), Purdue (588), Vanderbilt (590), Duke (591) and Texas (592) rounded out the top 12. The Blue Devils are only nine shots out of second place.

“It was pretty much the same conditions [today],” said Brooks. “I don’t think the course was playing harder today. I think we didn’t handle our mistakes very well. We needed to get over things, pick it back up again and keep fighting hard. We need to remember we are human and are going to make mistakes. It is really easy to fall into that trap when you at the NCAAs. You sort of press, work a little too hard and get down on yourself for making mistakes. You just cannot do that.”

Dealing with a cold the last couple of days, Lindy Duncan shot a 75 on Wednesday to drop to tied for 16th overall with a 36-hole ledger of 145. A product of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Duncan started strong with a birdie on the first hole, but got in trouble on the third hole and made bogey to drop back to even par. Following five straight pars, she sank a easy birdie on the 455-yard, par five ninth hole, after being on in two and putting for eagle.

The back nine was a different story as she struggled with four bogeys, including two shots in the water on No. 16 and No. 18, on her way to posting a 75. She hit 10 greens, 10 fairways and had 31 putts on the day.

Duncan, who is the No. 1 player in the nation, is seven strokes behind the individual leader, Brooke Pancake of Alabama (138). Giulia Molinaro of Arizona State is second at 140.

Posting Duke’s best score on the day was sophomore Alejandra Cangrejo as she carded a two-over-par, 74, and sits tied for 25th with a 146. Cangrejo, who is from Bogota, Colombia, posted a team-best four birdies on the day. She was one-under-par through nine holes as she fired three birdies over her first nine holes. Cangrejo drained a nine-footer on No. 3, 13-footer on the seventh and had an easy, two-foot birdie on No. 9 to start off her day.

She opened the back nine with four bogeys over the first five holes, but got it together over her final four holes to finish with a 74. Cangrejo drained an eight-foot birdie on the challenging 154-yard, par three 16th. She hit eight greens, seven fairways and had a team-best 28 putts.

Junior Stacey Kim broke a string of three consecutive rounds at even-par, 72, on Wednesday as she carded a 75. She enters Thursday’s action tied for 32nd with a 147. Kim opened her day with a birdie on No. 1, but suffered bogeys on the third, fifth and sixth holes to drop to two-over-par. She closed the front nine with an excellent 14-foot birdie from the edge of the green on No. 8 and then had another birdie on No. 9 to make the turn at even par.

Kim, a native of Columbus, Ga., registered seven pars on the back nine, but also suffered a bogey on No. 11 and a double-bogey on No. 13 to finish with a 75. She hit 10 fairways, nine greens and had 31 putts on the day.

After playing some of the best golf of the team over her first nine holes, sophomore Laetitia Beck struggled on the way in to finish with a 78. Beck, who is out Caesarea, Israel, was even par through nine holes with five pars, two birdies and two bogeys. She sank a 10-foot birdie on No. 5, then stuck it close on No. 7 and drained a two-footer for birdie. But Beck couldn’t keep it going on the back as she finished six-over-par with six bogeys. This came a day after Beck closed strong shooting even par over her final 10 holes. She hit 10 fairways, 10 greens and had 29 putts. She is tied for 108th with a 156.

Junior Courtney Ellenbogen shot a 79 on Thursday and is tied for 89th with a 154. A native of Blacksburg, Va., Ellenbogen started slow with five bogeys over her first seven holes, but sank birdies on No. 8 and No. 10 to get back to three-over-par. She got in trouble on No. 12, No. 14 and No. 15 on her way to making bogeys, but she did sink a 25-foot birdie putt on the 13th. For the second straight day, Ellenbogen suffered a double-bogey on No. 16, but closed with two pars.

As a team, Duke sank 14 birdies on the day and played the par fives at two-over-par. The Blue Devils will tee off beginning at 12:03 p.m., on Thursday in the third round along with Vanderbilt and Texas.

“We just talked about keeping your chin up and keeping up the fight,” said Brooks. ‘We are still thinking big here.”

Notes:

• For the second straight NCAA Championship, Duke opened the first round well but then struggled in the second round falling to 11th. In 2010, Duke was third after day one but shot a 303 in the second round to fall to tied for 11th. The Blue Devils finished eighth in 2010.

• Duke is a combined 8-over-par on the 154-yard, par three 17th hole through two days.